Date: 2010-03-12
CHL’s newest tenancy manager, Stephanie McStay, based in CHL’s Morwell office is delighted with her new role, particularly because she came to know CHL first and foremost as a tenant.
After applying for the position, in which a short list of six people were contending for the role, Stephanie’s skills and experience in customer service proved a perfect opportunity for the Morwell office to build their tenancy management team.
Stephanie says the highlight of her work currently is the opportunity to engage with the Koori community in managing the Indigenous Properties portfolio.
“I enjoy the working environment at CHL – it’s a family friendly work place and I get to work with a diverse range of people. Being of Koori descent myself I am able to communicate on their level and it is great to see that although they don’t show it at times are grateful for the opportunity to live in secure, well maintained housing,” says Stephanie. “I also have the opportunity to network with other communities and find that because word travels I am accepted wherever I go. This makes my role much easier.”
As a tenant, Stephanie has been an active community housing member and attending meetings to keep up to date with what was happening. These meetings gave her a good understanding of community housing and when she started the role, she already knew who was who and was familiar with current issues.
“As a tenant I have also been exposed to other services that were offered from other organisations around tenancy issues and I was familiar with the issues that tenants had in regards to community housing and how it was seen within the community. I was able to draw on this when I started and made sure that I was available to listen to the concerns of the tenants,” she says.
Steve Bevington, CHL’s Managing Director, says CHL began its relationship with the indigenous community in East Gippsland in 2001, and has involved the transfer of management of tenancies as well as the employment of people from the aboriginal community.
“Employing Stephanie is part of our long standing commitment to provide employment opportunities to local people in the development of housing wherever possible,” says Mr. Bevington.
“She has had previous positions in customer service for Anglicare, customer service roles in an aged care facility, and time spent at Woolworths and Armaguard. Given that she has experienced community housing first hand, Stephanie was clearly the ideal candidate for the role. She is a good example of the talent in our tenant population that CHL wants to tap into.”
Stephanie says that while she brings some very positive aspects to the role, the most challenging aspects of tenancy management are trying to make sure tenants keep up with their rent payments and that maintenance issues are taken care of quickly.
“As this is a community housing organisation, we work with the realities of tenants who struggle with their rent in arrears, especially the indigenous households, and getting on top of this issue requires a long term skill that we’re trying to help these people develop,” says Stephanie.
“The maintenance issues that we encounter are around suppliers and continuing to build a network of tradespeople that share a similar commitment to maintaining a quality standard of living through prompt service.”
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